BRIEFLY: Parks commission meets Thursday

The Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission will hold its regular meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the conference room of the Parks and Recreation Department Office, 2402 Cedar St. The commission will review the proposed renovation project in Pioneer Park and hear staff reports from each division.

Helping students with autism is focus

Susan Whitelock, assistant professor of English and writing, discusses how colleges can be prepared to help students with Autism Spectrum Disorder succeed.

Whitelock’s colloquium presentation “Looking at Collaboration through the Eyes of College Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder” begins at 4 p.m. Thursday in Ackerman Hall, Room 210, at Eastern Oregon University. A reception with time for questions and answers will follow.

The number of students entering college with Autism Spectrum Disorder, which now includes Asperger Syndrome, is growing. Whitelock stresses the importance for college students, staff and faculty to better understand the challenges these students face as they enter college classrooms and other college spaces, especially as demands include social interaction.

Whitelock references the concept of universal design for learning, based on the theory of universal design in architecture, as a helpful tool for faculty to think of curriculum as a building that needs new access ramps to help students with ASD succeed.

A list of related resources is available for more in-depth information on this topic. Visit http://library.eou.edu/colloquium. To be added to the colloquium mailing list, call 541-962-3555.

Grande Ronde Academy hosts tours

Grande Ronde Academy, K-eighth, is hosting school tours at 12:30 p.m. Friday and May 19. To RSVP or for more information, call 541-975-1147. The school is located in Valley Fellowship at 507 Palmer Ave.

Make nominations for beautification awards

The City of La Grande Community Landscape and Forestry Commission recognizes efforts to maintain and improve the beauty of La Grande’s environment through exemplary and outstanding landscape maintenance and design.

Seasonal awards are given to residential and commercial properties that have been carefully landscaped and attract the viewer. These landscapes must be seen from public access and can include one or more the following criteria: integrating colors and textures, appropriate use of hardscapes, good use of space, resource conservation, wildlife habitat, dynamic through the seasons, food production or owners that have overcome special circumstances.

Nomination forms are available at the Parks and Recreation Department at 2402 Cedar St. or on the city website at www.cityoflagrande.org.

Return nominations to the Parks Department or by email to
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The nomination deadline for the spring awards is June 1.

Clocks take center stage at meeting

The Union County Historical Society will meet Saturday at the log cabin at the fairgrounds. The meeting begins at noon with a potluck.

The speaker will be Gary Kopterud, a master clock maker, who comes from a long family tradition of watch and clock makers.

His presentation will include the value of time, taking care of old clocks and a selection of historic clocks to see. A short business meeting will follow. The public is invited to attend.

Senior dance unfolds Saturday evening

A senior dance will take place from 6:30 p.m. to
9:30 p.m. Saturday at the Union County Senior Center, 1504 Albany St.

Music will be provided by Chinook Winds.

There will also be a potluck and door prizes. Admission is $3, or $5 per couple.

EOLS directors meet Tuesday; show looms

UNION — The directors of the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show will meet at
7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Clubhouse on East Delta Street, Union. Only two meetings are left before the show begins.

Workers compensation eyed

ENTERPRISE — A workers compensation seminar will take place from 1 to 4:30 p.m. May 14 at the Prairie Creek Center in Enterprise. Kara Null of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services will be the presenter. Cost is $25 per person. To register, call 541-426-4972, ext. 362, no later than May 13. Make checks payable to Oregon Employer Council-Wallowa County.